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Mors submachine gun
|barrel= |weight= |justweight= |width= |height= |magazine=24-round detachable box magazine |cycle=450 – 500rpm 1200rpm (early prototype) |effective= |range= |usedby= |velocity= }}The wz. 39 Mors (Pistolet maszynowy Mors wz. 39) was a Polish submachine gun that was produced by VIS Warszawa.https://www.forgottenweapons.com/submachine-guns/wz-39-mors/ History Designed from 1936 to 1938 by Piotr Wilniewczyc and Jan Skrzypiński as a new submachine gun that could help arm the Polish Army with modern weapons, the Mors' name came from the Latin word for "death". The first prototype was designed in 1936 and designed by Jerzy Podsędkowski;http://www.magnum-x.pl/artykul/pistoletymaszynowejpodsedkowskiego it did not appear to have a name. The rate of fire of the first prototype was noted to be extremely high at 1200 RPM, emptying the 24-round magazine in about 1.25 seconds; improvements and changes were made to later prototypes. The Mors name was only applied to the second prototype onwards, where it was known as the Mors 2; the name was given to a redesigned version of two prototypes (known as Models No. 1 and No. 2), improved versions of the original 1936 prototype. The weapons were submitted by FK in 1938 and compared against the Erma EMP; performance of the Mors 2 was said to be far better than the original prototype, although it was still considered somewhat less accurate. It was later decided to reject the No. 1 and further evaluate the No. 2; the culmination of this would be the Mors 3, the final prototype version of the Mors. A batch of three prototype Mors 3s with three magazines each was ordered from FK; delivery was scheduled for 10 January 1939. The three prototypes were then trialed; the Mors was then accepted by the Komitet Zakupów Uzbrojenia '' (KZU), with a test batch of thirty-six more weapons ordered (older sources claim "approximately 50"). Each submachine gun cost approximately PLN 2,500, with delivery scheduled for 15 April 1939; this was subsequently delayed to 3 June 1939 which was when the weapons were actually delivered. The weapons were then trialed with tank crews, the 39th Infantry Division, military police units and the 3rd Rifles Battalion in Rembertow. Unfortunately, the Mors was considered unsuitable for use with tankers; what started off as a submachine gun had become one that was long, its length considered far too long for use in a tank. To replace the Mors in that role, stocked Vis pistols were considered and may have been issued, but there is no known surviving evidence to prove that they were actually issued. As FK had already tooled up for serial production of the weapon by then, it is highly likely a few more Mors were produced presumably for the forces defending the capital; however, no evidence has been found to support or deny this hypothesis. However, the weapon's production eventually stopped, with only thirty-nine Mors being made before the German invasion.http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=1931 After the war ended, the Mors became somewhat of a "legend"; essentially, it was a submachine gun everyone heard about but nobody knew what it was for sure. Wilniewczyc wrote his own publication about the Mors in the ''Muzealnictwo Wojskowe periodical issued by the Polish Military Museum, which added to the confusion; he drew a sketch of the original Mors and his own illustration of the model which apparently misled many researchers. Searches for the Mors began some time later; it was only in 1983 when the first surviving Mors' were found. As of 2018, only four Mors submachine guns remain in existence; all surviving Mors are Mors 3s, namely serial numbers 13, 19, 38 and 39, all located in museums. All four weapons are incomplete; the most incomplete sample is No. 13, which is missing its magazine, bolt and its entire trigger mechanism;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWmP_7U5_m4 the most complete sample is No. 38 which is shown above. While No. 38 appears complete, it was actually found incomplete as well, with its barrel and magazine missing; a new barrel and magazine were constructed just for the prototype. Mors No. 19 is missing the weapon's distinct foregrip and the tangent sight's leaf. Mors No. 13 is located in the Polish Land Forces Museum, No. 18 is located in a collection in Moscow, No. 38 is located in the Polish Army Museum and No. 39 is located in a collection in St. Petersburg. Design Details The Mors is a conventional blowback-operated submachine gun; the weapon has a wooden stock with a distinctive foregrip. The barrel is located inside a perforated jacket with its rifling being six right-handed grooves, and is also noted to be rather heavy and having sharp edges. The weapon feeds from double-stack 24-round detachable box magazines. The Mors has two triggers; the front trigger is for fully-automatic fire while the rear one is for semi-automatic fire. The weapon has a built in pneumatic buffer acting as a rate reducer; the buffer allows air to bleed out through small vents when the bolt is in the forward-most and rearmost positions. The weapon has a monopod located within the weapon's distinctive foregrip; the monopod is placed at the unloaded gun’s center of gravity, allowing the Mors to stand upright without any additional support. The monopod consists of three sections; the widest section is permanently attached to the weapon and serves as an axis for the foregrip while the narrowest section has a foot attached to the bottom of it. Extending and collapsing the foregrip is noted as being a rather tedious (and very annoying) process. The weapon's blowback action is also noted to be rather complex, and the weapon has a bolt hold-open combined with a lever which allows the magazine to fall out on its own when empty. The most notable feature about this weapon, though, is its barrel change feature. In theory, all that is required to change the barrel is to rotate the barrel change lever or disassembly pin clockwise 180 degrees and point the barrel casing down, at which point the barrel should fall right out of the weapon; while this is true to some extent, the barrel will have to be jerked fairly hard in order for it to be removed from the weapon. Replacing the barrel is also said to be a rather tedious process; on the barrel is a small realigning post buried deep inside the bushings which have to be aligned with an equally small slit in the barrel. However, a combination of the poorly positioned slit and post in the barrel and bushings respectively makes for a rather tedious process that requires a lot of attention from its operator. Variants ;Model No.1 First prototype. Had a fire selector and a foregrip with the magazine inserted in it. Had a very high rate of fire of about 1200rpm. ;Model No.2 Second prototype. Had twin triggers. ;Mors 2 Third prototype. Noted as being a complete redesign over the No.1 and No.2 prototypes and is lighter than the former but very little else is known. ;Mors 3 Final prototype combining elements from all previous Mors prototypes and ultimately the only version to see actual production (albeit in very limited quantities). Gallery Mors13.jpg|Mors submachine gun No. 13 on display. Note the missing trigger and magazine. Mors19.jpg|Mors submachine gun No. 19 when originally found. Note the missing foregrip and sight leaf. References Category:Submachine guns